From Beyond the sand book 2 Hidden in the Leaves
by gummi bear ninja
Summary: Part 2 of From beyond the sand. Miniko, now 12 has lived in Konoha for 4 years now and has had no success of making contact with her childhood friend Gaara. She begins to meet other people and developing friendships. She's happy Miniko can't help but feel empty without her old friend who still alone back in Suna and what events will occur when they meet again. GaaraXOC
1. Chapter 1

**Gummibearninja- Hey welcome back to book two of From Beyond the sand! Before you begin reading I highly recommend you read book 1 if you are a new reader so you can have an easier understanding of the story or if you are like me and is too lazy for that you can PM me if you need anything explained.**

**Anyway without further ado here's book two!...Awesome I made a rhyme!**

**Miniko-Well she haven't changed at all…anyway we don't own Naruto.**

Oh and please no bashing but friendly advice to improve is fine

Chapter 1

Unsent Letters

Miniko found herself standing alone in an empty desert. She looked around and soon saw both her parents, little sister and older brother standing about a hundred yards away. Miniko smiled as she tried to approach them but her body was paralyzed. Miniko called to them. "Mother! Father! Mayu! Yuuri! I'm over here! I'm back!"

At that her father turned to her. "It's because of you that we are all suffered like this."

Miniko paled as she tried to put words out. "Wh….What b...But-"

"We should have just given you to them." Her Father then had a delirium look in his eyes. "Why must we ALL go through hell because of YOU?"

Miniko suddenly felt like she couldn't breathe, as her family began walking away from her. Feeling she could move again, she ran to them. But they were gone. Miniko looked around, terrified and then suddenly she heard a demonic laughter behind her. Miniko turned and saw a group of shadows, beginning to approach her.

"Miniko…Miniko…Miniko…" They spoke with an echo in their speech. "Come…Come….Come."

Miniko could feel her heart beating faster as the shadows began running toward her. She quickly ran for what seemed like forever until she felt herself bumping into someone. She looked up and saw it was…Gaara! He turned and looked at her as he always has.

"Gaara!" She stood up and took hold of his hand. "I'm so happy that I could see you again! Look I'm-"

Gaara was then giving her a look of disgust as he yanked his hand away before she could finish. "I won't listen to this! Why should I? You will just make promises that you won't keep and betray me again!"

Miniko's eye were wide as she began to back away and tripped falling back into the pile of shadows that were chasing her. She struggled to get out as she saw Gaara standing there looking down at her.

"No! Gaara wait! I'm sorry about everything! WAIT!"

Suddenly Miniko woke up in her bed. Looking around she saw she was in her small apartment in Konoha. The sun was just peaking over the leaf village.

"Just a dream…" Miniko said as she laid down on her side and attempted to go back to sleep, the image her family and friend still replaying in her head. She tossed and turned for a bit before giving up on sleep and got out of bed and walked to her desk. Taking out a pen and paper, she began to write.

"Dear Gaara…" Miniko mumbled aloud as she begin to write.

XXXXXXX

It's been 4 years since Miniko was brought from her hometown Suna to Konoha by her older brother to escape the agency that was after her. Her brother left that same night, shortly after dropping her off. He would send Miniko letters often, telling about his training and the villages he was seeing.

During this time Kakashi agreed to help her with training, when Miniko arrived in Konoha, she learned that her father was originally a leaf shinobi and knew Kakashi's father quite well. Yuuri also once said, in a letter, that he and Kakashi knew each other since children. Miniko grew pretty close with her sensei, often asking about her father and his days as a leaf Shinobi and what he was like before. Hearing stories about her father always made Miniko happy, as it made her feel closer to her father and not as the usually intense trainer.

Although Miniko doesn't mind her new life in Konoha she still missed the hot, dry desert climate in Suna, her overprotective older brother, her mischievous little sister, her strict father and loving mother who even if she were to return, would never see those three again.

As for Gaara she had no idea if he even still considered her a friend. Since Miniko was taken here by her brother in a hurry she didn't even get a chance to say good-bye to him, or even tell him where she was going. Shortly after getting here she would spend hours trying to increase her powers to try and reach him, but had no success.

One day she decided to try writing him a letter. Her hand was shaking with excitement as she was putting the envelope into the mailbox. Miniko left satisfied. So excited and so nervous at what he would respond with.

Weeks went by and there was no response. Miniko would go check the mailbox everyday but it was always either letter from Yuuri or monthly checks, but nothing from him.

_Maybe he didn't get it yet or hasn't have had time to write…_With that in mind, Miniko decided to try again.

Another few weeks went by, but there was still no response. Miniko grew anxious.

_One more try… _Miniko took a deep breath and wrote a third letter

As she waited, she would tug at her necklace, still wrapped around her neck that was given to her from Gaara when she was younger.

Time went on and anxiety took over. What if he was furious with her and felt he could no longer trust her. _It would make sense…_ she thought _with everything that happened why he would he want to friends with me anymore…._

Not wanting that to be the truth, Miniko got herself to write another letter. This time though she just stared at the mailbox, her hands were shaking, but this time with worriedness and anxiety. In the end she walked home and throwing the letter in a drawer.

XXXXX

It's been four years since then and Miniko still made many attempts to write to him, but her nerves took over her whenever she tried to send it and she never could.

Miniko finished up writing the letter and after sealing it, she stared at it for a minute, before she stuffed it into the draw with the rest of the never sent letters.

XXXXX

Later that morning, Miniko headed toward the training field for her daily training session with Kakashi.

"Miniko!" She heard someone calling her from behind, she turned and saw it was Hinata.

She smiled, waved and stopped for her to catch up. "Hey Hinata!"

Miniko has met Hinata shortly after coming to Konoha and she and they quickly became good friends and it was nice to have another girl close in age to talk to. Even back in Suna, unless it was her mom, the only ones she could talk to was Gaara or her brother Yuuri and well, there is just things you don't talk about with a boy.

The two friends chatted as they walked down the streets of Konoha. Miniko then noticed Hinata was fidgeting with her fingers again.

"Hey Hinata…"

"Huh! Uh-yes?" She said looking up.

"Are you nervous about something?" Miniko asked

"Hinata gasped. "Were you able to read that with your telepathy?" Hinata asked, knowing Miniko has that ability.

Miniko shook her head. "Don't need my powers to read everything." she laughed. "Seriously though what's wrong? You can tell me if it helps." Miniko smiled

Hinata blushed. "Well you see…we are going to be getting put on teams today…..I guess I'm just worried who I will be with…" Hinata sighed "I wish you were in the academy. Then there could be a chance we could have been on a team together."

Miniko smiled. "Yeah that would be nice. But you know since I'm not actually from here it would be difficult to register me as an official ninja yet."

Hinata nodded "Yeah I guess you're right…"

Miniko has told people almost nothing about her history. She has told Hinata very little about her past in Suna and has mentioned nothing to her about the agency after her.

All Hinata knew, was that she was that she was from a nearby village and was cared for by her brother and he had to go on a long mission far away and temporally left her in Konoha where her parents were originally from. That was the story she stuck with and it wasn't like it was a complete lie.

Miniko wanted to tell people or the very least her friend. She hasn't even mentioned to Hinata that she had a little sister and there were so many stories she wanted to share. But she couldn't. Thinking about all the ones she lost her parents, sibling and Gaara and all that pain her and the others she cared for went through. She couldn't let that happen again. Miniko has kept everything isolated and as much as she didn't want to, kept it that way.

"But Hinata, don't worry about it!" Miniko started "You're very nice and hardworking! Whatever team you end up with will be lucky to have you!" Miniko said told her with confidents.

Hinata gave her a smile "Thanks Miniko. I'll tell you about everything later!"

At that point the two girls went their separate ways.

XXXXXXX

As Miniko approached the training field, she was surprised that, for once, Kakashi was already there.

"Well this is a first, Kakashi-sensei! Am I late or something?" Miniko said when she approached her teacher.

"You talk as if I'm always late. As a shinobi, it's my role to show young shinobi, as yourself, to know the importance of arriving to destinations at the exact written time." Kakashi said, not looking up from the book in his hand.

_Yeah that would be true if you actually did show up on time for once…_

"Anyway Miniko…" Kakashi started as he put away his book. "Before we begin I have to tell you about something. It seems I have been asked to teach the new Genin, who just graduated from the academy."

Miniko's eyes went wide. "So does that mean I'm going to be on my own with training?" Miniko assumed

Kakashi shoot his head. "No…I had to pull a few strings, but I am having you join team 7.

Miniko looked confused. "Wait! How does that work? I'm not even registered as a shinobi or even a Genin!"

"Well since the Hokage knew of you situation I was able to get permission to continue with your training by allowing you to do missions, as if you were registered." Kakashi explained.

"The Hokage knows?" Miniko asked "Since when?"

"He always had. Your father was one of his trusted shinobi and also he had to know in order for you to stay here."

"Oh…" Miniko blushed, embarrassed that she never thought of it like that. "So when am I meeting this team?"

"Well I'll be meeting them after lunch today and tomorrow have to put them through an exercise to see if they are qualified." Kakashi explained

"What kind of exercise?" Miniko asked

"That is for me to know and you to find out." Kakashi said slyly.

Miniko shuddered. Sure she could have read his mind to find out… but something told her that it was best she didn't know.

_The next day_

Miniko sat there fidgeting with her necklace wrapped around her neck. Feeling nervous about supposing meeting her new teammate tomorrow _Geez here I go telling Hinata to relax and now I'm just as nervous as she was…_

Getting sick of letting this beat her, she made her way to the training field to take her mind off everything.

XXXXXXX

As Miniko got closer to the training field, she noticed something off about one of the training stumps, that that she could see from a distance. _What is with the orange flag?_She thought then she came to a realization _Wait a second! Is that….someone tied up!?_ And with that she hurried to inspect it.

When she got there she saw a boy in an orange jump-suit with blonde spiky hair around her age. _What happened? Why is he tied up?_Miniko thought. To be on the safe side, using her telepathy read his mind to make sure he was alright.

_Ramen….I could really go for some ramen…._She read

"He seems alright." Miniko said as she looked around for the knot to untie him. When she couldn't find one she began to dig through her rucksack and pulled out a kunai. She began to approach the rope and got ready to cut it. Suddenly the boy opened his eyes.

"Huh….W-Wait! What are you doing?" He spoke quickly

Miniko yelped at his sudden outburst and fell back the kunai falling to the ground.

"Are you enemy ninja!?" He continued "Cause I'm warning ya! You're dealing with Naruto Uzumaki! The next Hokage of the Hidden leaf village!"

Miniko stuttered as she tried to explain. "W-Wait! I-I'm not here to fight you! I came here to train and I saw you tied up and thought you needed help! But if this is part of your training, I'm sorry I'll go somewhere else!" Miniko began packing up anything that fell out of her bag and got up.

The boy, who addressed himself as Naruto called out to stop her. "Wait! Wait! Don't go! You got it all wrong this isn't part of any training! My team left me here after a training excersis! Please help me! I'm starving!"

Miniko stopped and turned to him she gave a quick nod and pulled out her kunai and freed the ball of energy.

He briefed a sigh of relief "Aw man I thought I was going to be stuck there all day." He looked at Miniko and smiled from ear to ear. "Thanks a lot! For that if you're ever in trouble, I'll be there to help!"

Miniko's shy side began to show. "Oh…no problem… uh how did you even get tied up anyway?" Miniko asked

Naruto sighed "I kinda tried to sneak lunch during the time we were training and uh….I kinda ended up getting caught…"

Miniko couldn't help but giggle at his unfortunate incident, making Naruto chuckle as well.

"I still haven't had a chance to eat yet." Naruto said finally with a groan. "Hey you want to go get some lunch with me? Ya know it's thanks to you I don't have to starve!"

Miniko smiled "S-sure! M-My name is Miniko by the way. Miniko Utama."

"Nice to meet ya! I'm Naruto Uzumaki, but you already knew that!" Naruto then quickly began walking toward the village. "Come on I'll show you my favorite place to eat!"

Miniko nodded as she followed. "Does this place have anything to do with ramen?" she asked

"Yeah how did you know?"

Miniko smiled "Uh-lucky guess."

XXXXXXX

Naruto talked the entire time on the way to Ichiraku's Ramen. Miniko listened, kind of amazed of how many topics Naruto could talk about of just simple soup and noodles.

He finally stopped talking when they were finally in the building and began digging into their food. Miniko has walked by this place many times, but this was the first time she has actually eaten here. The ramen tasted a lot better than she thought.

"This is so good!" Miniko heard Naruto say

Miniko smiled "Yes your right this taste a lot better than I thought!"

Naruto looked at her confused "Huh I didn't say anything? I was thinking that though."

Miniko's smiled disappeared and she blushed. "Huh?! Oh-well you see…" Naruto continued to stare at her, clearly wanting an explanation. Miniko sighed "You see…I have both telepathy and telekinesis and sometimes I can't really control it too well and I end up reading thoughts, thinking it was aloud. Sorry I really am trying to control it."

Naruto nodded. "Oh, Okay. Hey are you going to finish your bowl?" Naruto asked suddenly.

Miniko looked at him surprised before she smiled and slide her bowl to his. "Sure."

"Alright!" Naruto beamed as he slurped down the rest of hers.

"Oh…" The two heard a sudden voice they turned to see Kakashi. "Miniko you're here and Naruto I was just about to go back and untie you."

_Then what are you doing here?_Miniko thought to herself

"What was taking you so long!? And if you were coming, why did you come here?!" Naruto demanded.

"What a man's got to eat, when a man's got to eat."

"Yeah yeah….Whatever." Naruto said in disbelief.

"Any way Miniko I came by to also tell you that the arrangements have been set and you will now be joining team 7 on doing missions and continuing your training. This knucklehead is on it as well."

Naruto looked at Miniko surprised. "Really you'll be joining us on missions now?"

Miniko chuckled "I guess so."

Naruto smiled "That's great! Now we can finally have someone who can acknowledge my true strength!" Naruto said with excitement

"Naruto you might want to stop sneaking food and actually train properly yourself before you toot you own horn." Kakashi said coldly

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!" Naruto argued

Miniko couldn't laugh and was now getting a good feeling about joining this new team.

XXXXXXX

It was evening when Miniko finally got home. She sighed happily, now excited for tomorrow. She went to the mirror, to begin getting herself ready for bed then she saw her necklace dangling in the reflection. She sighed as she squeezed it in her hand. Although she was happy, did she really deserve any of this?

_Gaara…..I'm happy for myself but I can't help but keep worrying about you….I really wish things could have stayed as how they were or the very least you be here with me. Naruto can be kind of loud but I think you would have gotten along in the end….Gaara….I hope everything is going alright for you…_

Meanwhile in Suna

Mayu, now 8 years old, rushed down the streets of Suna

"Where is he?" Mayu said to herself as she looked around. She finally saw him about a hundred yards away Mayu took a deep breath as she approached him.

"Hey-uh-Gaara!" Mayu called to him her heart beating fast as she kept a slight distance from him. He turned and looked at her with a glare in his eyes. Mayu took another deep breath as she continued "You see- I heard that you and your siblings were entering the Chunin exams and their taking place in the leaf village and I was wondering if I could just tag along with guys and come along and I can look for my siblings…."

"Why are you asking me?" Gaara responded

Mayu shuddered. "Well-uh- Is just that I feel if I asked your siblings or Baki, they would have said no for sure, so I thought I could ask you and also because you were good friends with my sister so I thought you would understand as to why I-" Gaara cut her off

"I don't care if you do or not. But you better not get in the way." Gaara's glare intensified "And do not believe I feel the same sincerity you have to your sister. She has no meaning to me." At that Gaara walked off. He could the Shukaku chuckle.

"_You say that now. But can you really handle going to Konoha, knowing she is there."_

"Don't be stupid." Gaara responded "Even if I end up running into her she means nothing to me."

The Shukaku laughed diabolically. _"Well done! Don't disappoint me!"_

"Of course not…Mother."

**Chapter 1 complete I wrote an extra long one as an apology for being so busy and not having much time to write (if it's too long tell me and I'll write the next chapters shorter.) Anyway I also just wanted to say that this more based on Naruto and is not going to be following the original series but maybe a few events. Anyway I hope you enjoy the rest of book two.**

**P.S- In case any of you is wondering Miniko is 12 right now.**


	2. Chapter 2 Miniko's team

**Gummibearninja-Hey friends! Here to give you the old disclaimer! Okay so I tried getting Gaara into this adorable racoon suit to give you the disclaimer but it would seem he is going through this I-hate-the-world phase. (I'm pretty sure it's just some puberty) So to give the disclaimer in his place heeeere's YUURI!**__***Fluttershy Yay in background***

**Yuuri-*sigh* so this is what Gaara had to go through I can see why he cracked….. Anyway we don't own Naruto. **

**Chapter 2**

"Mayu this is the last time I am going to say this. No, you cannot travel to the hidden leaf village during the Chunin exams."

"But lord Kazekage this might be my only chance to check to see if my brother and sister are-"

The fourth Kazekage interrupted "Look, there is going to be more going on during the exams then just the Chunins, it's too dangerous."

Mayu looked at the Kazekage confused "Is it because of Gaara? Because I pretty sure I can handle him!" Mayu boasted

"It's not just my son!" he snapped. "There is an important mission going then that you as a child could possibly not understand!"

"I'm 8 years old! That is practically a teenager!" Mayu argued

The Kazekage sighed and sat down as his desk. There was just know getting through to this girl. He changed the topic. "What even makes you think your siblings are even there?"

"Because of this." Mayu said as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a photo of her father and mother, who in her arms was a young infant, most likely Yuuri and in the background as banner that said 'Good luck in Suna Auron!' "I found it while cleaning some boxes." She then pointed at the headband her father was wearing. "And look! He's wearing a Konoha headband and the banner clearly states he used to live there! With this I thought maybe they could be there or something."

The Kazekage was silent for a moment before he spoke again. "Look Mayu, I'm sorry but there is just so many risks with this mission and I can't risk you getting involved."

Mayu frowned "Okay I didn't want to resort to this…" She said reaching into her pocket. "But here!" She said plopping down some cash on the table. "If you won't let me go, I'll pay to go! As a mission!"

The Kazekage looked down at the pile of cash in front of him. "This is nowhere near enough for a mission like this." He said writing down on some paper. "It's more like this…"

Mayu looked at it and gasped "That's a lot of zero's…." she muttered

"Exactly far too much for a child to save up to."

Mayu thought for a second "So…If I do manage to earn enough money I can go?" Mayu smiled "Alright so I have two months till they leave to the Chunin exams!" Mayu turned and hurried to the door.

"Wait I didn't say-" The Kazekage started, but she was already out.

Mayu darted through the Kazekage's house to the exit. _Just you wait guys I will find you there! I know I will! _ She was running so quickly that she didn't watch where she was going and she ended up running right into someone. "Oh sorry that was my-" She gasped and could feel herself shaking when she realized the one she bumped into was no one other than Gaara.

Gaara down at her glaring. "Watch where you're going."

"I-I-I'm s-s-sorry." She apologized before she quickly got up and hurried out of the building.

Gaara looked down and saw the photo Mayu had. After looking at it for a minute he picked it up and put it in his pocket.

_Meanwhile in Konoha _

Miniko waited on a bench more nervous than she has been in a long time. She made arrangements with Naruto to wait for him in the morning so they could head off for morning training together. _Okay so according to Hinata team 7 consists of Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki…..I already know Naruto and he's pretty nice. Hinata told me the Sakura is overall nice, but can sometimes be short tempered and is best to not get on her bad side and Sasuke is quiet and comes of cold and is advanced for his age… _Miniko felt a knot in her stomach. "I'm so nervous to meet them! I mean what if I end up annoying them too much? These guys all grew up together and went to school and I don't want to get in their way but I don't want to be left out either!" Miniko sprung up "I just need to show them that I belong here! The question is how?"

"Miniko who are you talking to?" Said a sudden voice

Miniko jumped and turned to see Naruto looking at her confused. "Uh…to myself…." Miniko answered honestly, lowering her head in defeat.

"Huh." Naruto said simply "About what?"

Miniko gave him a confusing look, but answered anyway. "Well I'm just a bit nervous with meeting the others, I've always been when meeting others…"

"Well ya shouldn't be that bad, Sakura's okay when she isn't gushing over Sasuke, and you should her! It's all Sasuke this and Sasuke that! As for Sasuke…" Naruto crossed his arms. "Understand that I am stronger than him and can kick his ass any day!"

Miniko giggled. "Naruto you may be a knucklehead, but you are really easy to talk to. Thanks I think I'm feeling a bit better."

Naruto looked at her confused "What did I do?"

Miniko shook her head "It's nothing. Come on we better get going."

As they were walking Miniko looked at Naruto. "Naruto…do you think you can keep quiet about you know my mind reading?" Miniko asked.

Naruto stop. "Well sure but why?"

Miniko sighed. Naruto always asked so many questions. "Well it's just something that I find easier to explain once someone knows me." Miniko explained

"Well sure but what if you end up reading by accident?" Naruto said

Miniko cringed "Please don't say that! I'm already nervous about that happening!"

Naruto thought for a minute. "I got it! If you do end up reading by accident, I'll just say that I said it!" Naruto grinned.

Miniko smiled she couldn't help but laugh at this shinobi's quick simple solutions. They kind of reminded her of her brother.

XXXXXX

Miniko and Naruto were first to arrive to the training field. They both sat down to rest. Naruto yawned and ended up crashing right against the training pole.

_I guess he's not a morning person. _ Miniko sat down next to him. _Alright…So I need to make sure I make a good introduction….That is the first step. An opening joke is always a good start…I was working on this all night so I hope it works! _ Reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. _I'm ready for this! _

"So Sasuke you think we can walk together more often?" Said a female voice.

Miniko turned and saw a girl with long pink hair and a boy with black hair spiked in the back that almost seemed to resemble a cockatoo. _That girl must be Sakura. _Miniko thought

"You following me, doesn't count as walking together…" Said a male voice, clearly being the one addressed to as Sasuke.

_Okay here I go! _Miniko stood up.

"Huh? Who are you?" Sakura asked. The boy said nothing.

"Well my name is Miniko Utama and…" Miniko lifted up the note she had in her pocket. "I am here to join team 7 and…" Miniko unfolded her note and turned it to them which had a picture of a bee on it. "I hope you BEE-lieve we can all get along just fine." Miniko smiled.

No one said anything Sasuke was looking at her annoyed. Finally Sakura gave a nervous laugh.

_Uh oh… I guess that didn't work, Okay I'm going to give it one more shot! _ Miniko crumpled up her note and put it in her bag. "Sorry about that my jokes can be kind of…" Miniko reached into her lunch "Cheesy!" She said pulling out some cheese.

No one still said anything. Miniko began to panic.

_Great another Naruto…. _Miniko read by mistake from Sasuke. Miniko blushed and quickly put away her bag.

"I'm sorry…." Miniko apologized.

Sakura smiled "Uh….Don't worry about it. My name is Sakura Haruno!" she said.

They both looked at Sasuke. He sighed "Sasuke Uchiha…" He answered coldly.

Sakura's smile disappeared as she turned to Naruto. "Hey wake up you idiot!" She shouted.

Naruto yawned. "Oh good morning Sakura, I could really go for some breakfast." Naruto said still half asleep.

"In your dreams!" Sakura said whacking him on his head.

"Owww…Hey you didn't have to hit me!" Naruto argued

"I wouldn't be if you weren't such an idiot!" Sakura shot back.

Miniko turned to Sasuke "Is it always like this?"

"Unfortunately…" Sasuke answered.

After a few minute they calmed down everyone was sitting down. Naruto sighed. "Man…he's late again."

"Get used to it…" Miniko added "This is a daily issue."

Sakura, bored, decided to start a conversation. "Miniko Is Kakashi a relative of yours? How do you already know him?"

Miniko shook her head, "No he was my private teacher and I joined team 7 so he could continue with it." Miniko noticed that Sakura was giving her a shocked look. Even Sasuke was looking at her. _What did I say that was weird? _

"Private teacher?!"Miniko suddenly heard Sakura say. "Is she like some gifted shinobi."

Miniko quickly defended. "No not at all!"

"Huh? I didn't say anything." Sakura said

Miniko blushed ._Not again! _

"I did!" Naruto said "She was talking to me!" Sticking to his promise.

Sakura looked at him. "What? No you didn't! Stop being stupid."

"I did to! You just didn't hear me!" Naruto argued

Sakura sighed. _But still private lessons?! Who is she and I never saw her at the academy and plus how did she know what I said? _

"Good morning everyone! Sorry I'm late." Said a familiar voice. Everyone turned to see Kakashi. "I see you all met Miniko."

"It's about time you showed up!" Naruto shouted.

"Sorry it would seem I got lost on the path of life." Kakashi said

Miniko rolled her eyes. _That one again? There is only so many life paths you can get lost on…_

XXXXXX

Training began with a few laps around the field. Miniko kept a decent pace with the others.

_I'm going to be faster than Sasuke1 I'm going to be faster! _Miniko heard Naruto. He looked over at Sasuke. "Try and beat this Sasuke!" He said charging ahead. Sasuke just rolled his eyes and ignored the blonde.

Kakashi then to add to the training used his earth-style to add some small boulders in the way. Everyone of course just dodged them quickly-including Naruto- Miniko slowed herself down, about to use her telekinesis. _Wait no! I should try to do what they're doing but I shouldn't be ashamed of that when I need it? _It however was too late and Miniko ended up tripping over the first boulder. The others turned at her confused but continued their running. Kakashi walked to her.

"Miniko why didn't you use your abilities?" He asked

"Uuuh… I just forgot!" Miniko lied.

_How do you forget something like that? _

Next was practicing some shuirkan throws.

Sasuke threw with no problem, nor Sakura, Naruto ended up doing a decent throw as well.

Miniko stood there nervous. _Okay I can use my powers easy for this without being noticed. _Miniko was nervous. She readied her powers and threw the shuirkan….and missed.

Miniko blushed.

_Is this girl even a ninja? _ She heard Sasuke think.

XXXXXX

Morning training consisted of nothing but epic fails for Miniko, to even a point that Naruto was giving her weird looks and then after a lunch break they set off to the Hokage's house for their first mission.

The Hokage looked down at his list. "Okay team 7….I have some D-rank missions of… cleaning the gutters, Raking some leaves or rescuing a lost kitten."

Naruto groaned. "Oh come on old man! I'm a strong shinobi I should be getting more heroic missions! Ya know like rescuing the village from total destruction!"

Sakura snorted. "Yeah Naruto hero of Konoha! That would be the day."

Miniko couldn't help but giggle.

In the end they went with the cat mission. When they got outside Kakashi stopped them.

"I actually have some important matters to attend to. So I am going to leave this mission in charge with you four." He looked at Miniko "And I want all of you to use your abilities to the fullest." And with that he teleported himself away.

The four stood there for a minute not sure where to start. Finally Naruto spoke. "I say we all just start looking for the dumb cat, we'll charge at it and then grab it!"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "That's stupid it would just scare it away and beside genius where are we going to even start looking?"

Sasuke sighed. "Well obviously we should all split up."

Sakura blushed. "Sasuke you're so smart as usual."

"Augh…" Naruto mumbled.

At that point Sasuke took charge. "Okay I'll handle the north side, Sakura east, Naruto south and Miniko west. We will communicate with our wireless communicators."

Everyone nodded and they reached into their bags to grab their communicators. Miniko reached in. "Huh!" She checked again. "Mines not here!"

Everyone groaned.

_Honestly she's so disorganized._ She heard Sakura. Sakura reached in and then looked confused. "Mines gone too!"

"And mine!" Said Naruto

Sasuke looked in his bag. His was gone as well.

"What the heck….Naruto did you do this!?" Sakura yelled.

"I just said mine is gone too why would I take my mine?" Naruto asked rhetorically.

"Well now what?" Sakura asked annoyed.

Everyone was arguing Miniko then realized what Kakashi said.

_I get it… he took them… he wanted me to show them what I can do…..but what if…. _ Miniko shook her head. _No I to stop thinking like that! This is what I was born with….so I have to live with it! _"UH…Guys!" Miniko said suddenly.

Everyone stopped to listen. "W-we can still follow Sasuke's plan and I provide communication."

Naruto jumped up "I get you're going to use your mind power thing!"

Miniko nodded "Yes…exactly."

Sasuke looked confused. "Wait…mind powers?"

"Are you related to the Yamanaka's?" Sakura asked.

Miniko shook her head. "No. I promise I'll explain later though. But for now we should ty and get that cat."

Sasuke and Sakura looked at each other confused but they all went to their separate ways to start the mission.

Once everyone was in their assigned destinations they waited for Miniko's instructions.

"_Alright everyone has anyone seen the target." _Miniko said to everyone

"_Whoa! You weren't kidding!" _Sakura said shocked

"_Sakura focus!" _Said Sasuke _"Miniko I just saw the target going toward you." _

"_Okay sneak after it quietly. The rest of you close in on it!" _

Miniko moved quickly and then she suddenly saw the target. She looked and saw that the other have already caught up.

"Now what…" Naruto whispered.

"We need to grab it somehow…" said Sakura

Miniko thought for a minute. "I know!" She said "She reached into her bag. "This is some sleep medicine my mother taught me to make. It will knock him out for a few minutes." She said pulling out the medicine and a throwing needle.

"But what if you throw it too hard and hit an artery?" Sakura asked

"Or miss and scare it." Added Sasuke.

"Trust it'll be fine." Miniko then using her telekinesis dipped the needle into the medicine and then directed it to the cat. It hit him on the back of the neck, knocking him out.

"Naruto now!" Said Sasuke.

XXXXX

After returning the cat t its owner. Sakura stepped in front of Miniko looking for an explanation. Sasuke was quiet but looked curious as well.

"Miniko where did all that come from and you're NOT related to the Yamanaka's? But it looked like you were doing advanced abilities that they have."

Miniko shook her head. "No…you see I was born with an extra chakra in areas of my brain. In my case I have extra chakra in my frontal lobe, which gives me my telepathy and parietal lode, which gives me my Telekinesis. It's depends where in your brain you have this extra chakra is for example some people have it in their occipital lobe giving them increased sight." Miniko looked down. "However, the difference between this and something like the Yamanaka's is that there is less control with it. I can't always stop my chakra from reading thoughts all the time and it drains chakra more since it can work on its own. There has been times I woke up with a headache because it would be going on its own on other people's thoughts as they sleep." Miniko blushed "Pretend you didn't hear that part…"

Sasuke sighed "You should have told use earlier. That would have saved us a lot of time."

Miniko looked down. "I'm sorry. It's just sometimes I can't control it and I end up reading other thoughts from people…"

Naruto looked at her. "Miniko you shouldn't have to worry about that! We are a team now and we should be able to share our abilities so we can learn from each other."

"Yeah." Smiled Sakura

Miniko smiled "Alright. I'm sorry again."

Naruto raised his arms in the air "And now to celebrate let's go get some Ramen!"

"No way. Sasuke was the one who came up with the plan so he should choose." Said Sakura

"I'm going home." Said Sasuke.

"Huh- Sasuke wait!" Sakura shouted to him.

Naruto gave his usual goofy grin. "You could always go me."

Sakura frowned. "Forget it! I'm going home!"

Naruto sighed. "Miniko what about you?"

"Sure" Miniko smiled. _They're all a bit goofy- well maybe not Sasuke-but they are now my team mates. I'll have to write to write to Gaara about them later._

**Yay another chapter finished! Sorry for taking so long I've been busy and it was hard to find time to write. Anyway I hope you enjoyed this chapter and my attempt to give an explanation to Miniko's powers or if you see anything that can be better, leave a comment (Please no bashing but friendly advice is fine.) Anyway I'll try not to take forever next time.**


	3. Chapter 3 When Miniko was Gone

**Kakashi- And with that we lay the Gummibearninja to rest. We aren't sure whether or not she will be missed….but uh….can we just move on with the will? I'm running out of nice things to say….**

**Miniko-Are you sure this is okay? I mean, yeah she's been missing for a while, but don't you think we are celebrating too quickly?**

**Gaara-who cares! My costume days are over!**

**Yuuri- For once I have to agree with him…**

**Kakashi- And the first item on the will is….What? All items will be returned to the Gummibearninja? But how does this work?**

**Eerie annoying voice that would make a baby's ear bleed- There's a very simply explanation to this….*Sudden explosion and Gummibearninja appears***

**Gummibearninja- You have to be dead in order for a will to work!**

**Gaara and Yuuri- NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! *Runs for the hills***

**Gummibearninja- MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAH I'M BACK MY FRIENDZ AND I DON'T OWN NARUTO! BUT I DOO OWN GAARA'S SOUL AND ALL THESE AMAZING COSTUMES *Runs after Gaara and Yuuri***

Chapter 3

When Miniko was Gone

Streaks of orange were thrown across the slowly darkening sky, the wind was tossing his sash about and the temperature had dropped almost to the point of gooseflesh. Gaara, along with his siblings Temari and Kankuro, were just in the middle of a mission; they were to stop a group rouges terrorizing a nearby village. His siblings had gone ahead; to do re-con, scoping out the locations of the rogue nin then signal him where the majority were hiding while they took out the stragglers.

While he waited for the signal, he felt himself trembling, as his impatience grew.

"_Cheh. Ya know this is a waste of time." The Shukaku scoffed. "Would be soo much faster if you'd drop the dead weight and do the deed solo. We might even get back in time for BBQ!" He whined. "Common… whaddaya say?"_

"Hn. Pathetic…" Gaara agreed. "Why do we have to wait until that idiot of a sister evacuates the village? I can kill those guys in seconds."

_Shukaku chuckled "Oh? Well show up or shut up big shot! Forget those lame brains. You only gotta listen to me. You know I got your back."_

Gaara flash stepped from his post and toward the silent village.

XXXXXX

"Hey boss, this place is empty. _Someone_ must have tipped off the villagers before we got here" One of the rouges reported glaring suspiciously at his comrades.

The one addressed as the leader spoke, "Shut up you idiot!" He rubbed a hand over his face in thought and panic for a moment before turning to the rest the bandits. "All of you!" The bandits turned to him with varying degrees of respect and attention. "Go through every house, every root cellar, everywhere! Bring me everything that has any worth. Even if it looks old bring it!" His face split into a villainous grin "And if you find any straggling civilians, round them up. I want to find this _someone_ who decided to give a heads up."

The men began to follow their orders when suddenly Gaara stepped in front of the group from his place behind a tree.

"Well that didn't take long." one of the men commented.

"Hey Boss!" Another called over his shoulder. "We found a civ! A kid boy."

Gaara glanced over all the men with boredom. "Seven huh… How disappointing."

"Common kid, let's go, the boss wants to talk to you. I promise we won't hurt you if you tell us the truth okay?" one of the men pleasantly, as he partially crouched over to look Gaara in the eyes.

The youngest sand sibling's eyes flashed as he murmured under his breath. "This won't be nearly enough to satisfy this thirst."

The boss grew impatient "Enough of this! Kill the brat!" He ordered one of the men.

The men hesitated, conflicted about the murder of a child.

Gaara didn't move, but continued to stare at the men as he removed the lid off his gourd.

And suddenly before any of them could move out of the way, Gaara wrapped his sand around the man who promised to spare his life, only allowing his face free.

"H-Hey! Don't do this! Help me! I can't move! Guys-" but before the man could finish, Gaara squeezed the man within his sand until his bones shattered and viscera splattered everywhere.

The other men watched in horror as warm liquid splashed onto their faces and clothes.

"He killed Hiroshi!"

"That thing is insane!"

"I'm _out_ of here!"

The men tried to escape, but it didn't take Gaara long to trap them in his sand and kill them with same brutality.

Gaara then looked directly at the leader as he began to approach him.

"P-Please! D-Don't kill me! I'll give you anything you want!" He pleaded, pants wet with terror.

Gaara, ignored him and wrapped him up in his sand.

"No! Don't kill me! Please!" The man screamed

"Blood…" Gaara said "I want your blood!" Gaara then crushed him with his sand as he watched a rain of blood fall.

XXXXXXXX

. "….Therefore thanks to Kankuro and I evacuating the village, and Gaara… taking care of the Ninja, the villagers are able to return to their homes without fear of robbery or attack." Temari informed Baki, the Jounin in charge of sand siblings.

Baki sighed and stood before Gaara, who looked through him. "Gaara-san. Those men were to be taken in for a fair trial. They may have been criminals but they were once Ninja just as you are now. Do you understand?"

Gaara stared.

Another sigh escaped the aging man. "I see… Good work you three. I will report this to Lord Kazekage." Baki closed the mission file and straightened his robe before gesturing to the door of his office. "You all may go home for the night. Don't forget tomorrow's meeting about your mission to Konoha." Temari began to open the door and the siblings began to leave, before Baki stopped them once more. "Oh and, I need each of you to bring your Shinobi I.D's to the meeting tomorrow."

"Understood." Temari said, bowing her head slightly.

Once the three of them left and had entered their home, Gaara went to his room for the night. His room was sparse one might even say Spartan; only consisting of a desk, a book shelf filled to bursting with books he had read more than once, a large lounger to rest and read in, a large closet that he kept his clothes, equipment and his sand gourd inside, a simple en suite bathroom, and a single pane window._ Could that have been any more tedious? _He thought. _I could have just left after killing those pathetic Shinobi and they weren't even worth my time. Then maybe I could've been back before everything closed._

Once he changed out of his shinobi uniform, he sat down on his sofa-chair and looked out the window at the clear dark sky. It was a quiet night and only the sound of the sand dunes being whipped into different shapes outside the walls of Suna could be heard. Bored, he picked up a book he recently bought and started reading it to pass time.

XXXXXXX

A few hours later Gaara finished reading the book. He looked at his clock and saw that it was just past 2 AM.

Gaara sighed. "Now, what to do…" He mumbled to himself. He turned to his desk. "I guess I can start preparing for the debriefing later. I still need to fill out the paperwork to Konoha as well."

He moved to his desk. _Now, where is that form? _He mused, as he dug around one of his desks draws. When he felt a piece of paper he pulled out his hand. However it wasn't the form and as he laid his eyes at what he saw, his chest tightened.

It was a letter. The letter that Miniko sent him shortly after she left. His hands began to shake as he stared at the letter. _Why do I still have this?! _He asked himself, clenching the letter. _I should have burned it… _He thought as he recalled the first year, after Miniko disappeared.

Many things went through my mind when Miniko left Suna. Anger, betrayal, sadness and loneliness.

Seeing her face behind my eyes made my blood boil, but I wanted to see her so desperately I could hardly breathe. I wanted normal back. I wanted to be okay again. Even simple tasks like walking through the village, sitting in my room and even just when I was alone in my thoughts; felt so unnatural and different, as if I were a stranger living in my own body.

"_You're being punished." _Shukaku said one day. _"You brought this on yourself kid! If you'd listened to me, you wouldn't be tormented by her. What you could've had. Cause you never woulda had the taste of it."_

Part of me agreed with Shukaku. There were times I wished I never met Miniko, then I would have adapted to this lonely life earlier.

"I never should have tried to talk to her at the park…" I said to myself one night, as I recalled the day we met under that tree at the park, all those years ago. "I should have just walked on by and let that kid torment her!"

However, the minute after I said that, guilt rocketed through my insides. How could I say that about the one person who called me friend? The one person who stayed with me, while the others ran?

One evening, about a month after Miniko left, Temari came and knocked on my door. She was carrying an envelope.

"This came for you today." She said, dropping the letter unceremoniously on the desk in front of me. No other words were exchanged, I picked up the letter as she closed the door behind her. I looked at the envelope. When I saw the writing on the back, I instantly recognized it and my heart stuttered. I eagerly opened up the letter and read it.

_Dear Gaara, _

_I'm really sorry about all this. Yuna came back and now my mother and little sister are gone. Afterwards, Yuuri took me to the land of fire, and he left me with a leaf Shinobi, named Kakashi Hatake, who is continuing to train me as a shinobi here in Konoha. _

_I know a simple apology isn't good enough and I know you'd prefer to hear this directly from me. But since you are my friend, you deserve to know. _

_I'm living in an apartment right now and I got to decorate it anyway I wanted to! I'm also starting to learn how to cook for myself! Mom taught me a little, but I still have a long way to go; I'll become an amazing chef, so when I get back I can cook you the best of the best! Look forward to it! _

_Yuuri disappeared somewhere when he dumped me in Konoha. He sends me letters from time to time and but he won't tell me the details about his training. Who knows though, maybe he'll find himself a girlfriend! Although the chances of that are slim._

_I really miss you Gaara. You and my family, I miss you all. I know letters aren't the same, but I hope we can at least exchange letters until its safe for me to return. I will return to Suna! I don't know when, but I promise I will see you again! _

_Your friend, _

_Miniko _

_p.s. I still have the necklace you made me and it protects me when I feel at my most vulnerable._

I read the letter over and over again, thinking of Miniko's smile as my eyes glazed over the words. Finally I took out a pen and I wrote her a return letter.

"_And what are WE doing?" _Shukaku sweetly sneered as I was sealing the envelope. _"Are you seriously thinking of starting all this again?" _

I froze and my chest began to hurt.

Shukaku continued _"The pain you're feeling right now, makes you vulnerable and weak. How can you be certain this girl isn't playing with your emotions again like the broken little violin you are." _

"B-but she said-." I started

"_Said what? That she is never going to leave? Look how well that turned out! That girl is gone! Vamoose! Nowhere! You keep going on like this, you're only gonna get weaker! That's why you gotta forget miss girly and live for only numero uno!" _

I stared down at the letter I wrote. Was Shukaku right? Was this just going to be an endless cycle that was meant for nothing else but my own torment? But I just really wanted to speak to her again. Frustrated, I tore the letter I wrote up and threw it away. I was about to do that to the one Miniko sent me, I held in my hands, prepared to shred the stupid thing, until my hands began to tremble and I realised... I couldn't do it. So I slowly released my death grip on it, my fingers leaving crinkles in the paper, and placed it deep into a drawer.

A couple weeks later, I went to my room and found another letter from Miniko sitting on my desk. I was hesitant, but I eventually got myself to read it. In the letter, she sounded very much the same, she wrote what she has been up to, her training and talked about how much she missed me and her family. In a post script, she expressed her concern that my return letter got lost in the mail and she was looking forward to hearing from me.

At one point in her letter Miniko wrote about how she wished Mayu could have had a chance to grow up. I was confused.

_Does Miniko not know that Mayu is alive? _I looked over at my desk. _Maybe I can just write to her and tell her about her sister. _ I sat at my desk and began to write, but the demon once again interfered.

"_You didn't get to know about her leaving, so why should she get to know about her sister? Turnabout's fair play." _ Shukaku said.

"But it's just to tell her about her sister!" I said

"_Think about it, is it really fair if she knows? She'll be over joyed, but what about you? You'll still be here alone, waiting, wishing on a star, relying on false hope for her to return. She'll be happy as a clam, but you'll still be here miserable and alone, clinging on to the little hope you have left…Kinda like a leech" _

Was that true? If Miniko is happy, how will that help me? Maybe she's already happy and doesn't even need me. I began to feel enraged.

"Why should I care about Miniko's well-being!? Why does she deserve happiness while I suffer!?" I was shaking with anger. "It's her fault….This is ALL her fault!? Does she think she can just run away from everything, while I stay here and wait for her?!" I tore up the Miniko's letters and shoved it into my desk drawer. "She's a liar! Miniko's a liar! She tells me we will always be friends! Always be together! But then she just runs off and throws me away!"

I couldn't breathe. Everything and nothing was blurring through my mind. My heart palpitated with anger, fear and guilt. I had to get out of my house! I ran out and down the street. I ran for what felt like miles before I stopped and found myself at the park. I could feel my body shaking. I was angry, upset and alone.

_I need to get out of here…..I don't want to be here…. _But my body wouldn't move. I felt like I was going to go insane. I wanted to cry, scream or shout! Just anything to take this pain away!

Then, what felt like an eternity, everything just stopped. I felt no more pain, sadness or anger.

I felt nothing. I couldn't even recall what I WAS upset about.

I was finally able to move and I turned around and headed home. As I was walking, I felt someone bump into me.

"Hwey! Watsh where ya goin' ya little brat!" He said with a drunken slur.

What happened next was a blur. Before I knew it, there was blood everywhere and the man was dead. Looking down at the pool of blood, my body trembled, not out of fear though, but with satisfaction.

At that point I put that girl at the back of my mind and my thirst for blood became my new drive.

A couple weeks later, I received another letter from her, but I threw it into the draw with others, without even looking at it.

_Those letters just bring me pain…SHE just brings me pain… _ I thought.

That was the last letter I received.

Loneliness…

Pain…

Death...

Blood...

For what seemed like centuries these feelings and desires began to consume me. The texture of plant leaves and soil, cold chill of the night wind, the scent of cooking meat, peoples voices, whether screaming in agony or quiet in conversation, everything faded into background hum. It allowed me to make sense of my broken world. A world without distractions. Without friendship. Without love.

_Think only for yourself…Fight for only yourself… LIVE only for yourself. _Shukaku's words replayed in my head like a mantra until eventually even her face faded from memory.

Eventually I became a Shinobi and I began doing missions along with my siblings.

Pain…

Loneliness…

...Anger.

Blood.

Blood...

The drive for satisfaction had increased again. I wasn't sure if it was my own intentions and desires or Shukaku's. But it allowed me to be numb to all that I deemed unimportant.

I was in a field, near the border to land of fire and I just finished a mission. I was alone, I wasn't sure if my siblings left or if maybe they weren't even there to begin with. I didn't care.

I walked through the field, blood dripped from my face and fingertips, still fresh and warm, the scent, overpowering.

Pain…

Loneliness…

Death.

Blood.

Vanilla?

Loneliness...

Cinnamon?

"Gaara!"

_Is she here?! _I turned around when I heard her voice, clear as day, but I was still alone. I continued walking.

Loneliness...

Vanilla.

Pain...

Cinnamon.

This familiar sensation grew stronger and I checked my surroundings again, rotating on the spot, but I was still alone. I grew frustrated. Why was I suddenly thinking of her? Why do I feel as if her presence is so close? So close that it cut through the background ambiance.

I looked down and saw that I was standing on top of some flowers, purple carnations to be exact. I picked one up, it still had a bit of blood on it from my recent battle.

It was her. It **was** her….

A flood of emotions, which I tried so hard to forget, began to drown me. The self-loathing, the regret, the guilt, I wanted to rip the flower to shreds. But the memories of her which the flower unearthed, stayed my hand. Her smile, the joy we shared, her bizarre positive attitude.

I carefully slipped it into the chest pocket of my uniform and took it home. Once back in my room, I pulled out the ripped up letter and taped it back together, my thumb brushing over the old ink with guilty nostalgia. I then dug out an old notebook, I pressed the flower between it's blank pages, so I could save it.

I was angry with myself. I tried to so hard to forget her, and why? For what?

I let out a dark chuckle. _I'm a coward. Forgetting her would bring me peace, and yet I can't help but cling to her…_

_I am weak. _I thought as I placed the letters and notebook into the drawer.

Gaara hadn't looked in that draw since, until now.

_Am I still so weak? I need to just get rid of these… _Gaara looked outside and saw that the sun was up and his clock read 7:30. The meeting he had to attend to was in a couple hours. He looked one more time at the letters.

_I should just get rid of her presence… _Gaara looked over at the trash bin, but then as if something had invaded his body, he placed them carefully back into the drawer.

"_You're weakness is your biggest turn-off!" _Shukaku snickered.

Gaara ignored him this time and then started filling out the form, which he was originally looking for.

Pain…

Anger…

Vanilla…

Loneliness…

Cinnamon…


End file.
